NUMBER


Meaning of NUMBER in English

I.

noun

1 symbol/word

ADJECTIVE

▪ three-digit , 16-digit

▪ cardinal , ordinal

▪ even , odd

Houses on this side of the road have even ~s.

▪ binary , decimal

▪ complex , imaginary , irrational , prime , rational , real , whole ( mathematics )

▪ negative , positive

▪ random

▪ lucky , unlucky

Many people think 13 is an unlucky ~.

▪ winning

the winning ~s in tonight's lottery

▪ correct , right

VERB + NUMBER

▪ calculate

▪ add , add together , divide , multiply , subtract , take away

Add all the ~s together, divide by ten, and then take away twelve.

▪ double , triple

▪ crunch

▪ enter , write , write down

▪ pick , think of

PHRASES

▪ in round ~s ( esp. BrE )

There were about 150 there, in round ~s.

▪ ~ crunching (= doing calculations)

There's more to an accountant's job than just ~ crunching.

2 quantity/amount

ADJECTIVE

▪ big , high

high ~s of unemployed teachers

▪ low

▪ considerable , good , great , high , large , substantial , unlimited

▪ enormous , huge , impressive , incredible , inordinate , overwhelming , staggering , unprecedented , vast

▪ alarming

▪ sheer

▪ record

a record ~ of responses

▪ disproportionate , surprising

▪ fair , reasonable , significant

We've had a fair ~ of complaints about the new phone system.

▪ finite , infinite

There are an infinite ~ of solutions to the problem.

▪ equal

The candidates received an equal ~ of votes.

▪ maximum , minimum

▪ average , mean , median

▪ adequate , sufficient

▪ insufficient

▪ limited , low , modest , small , tiny

▪ growing , increasing , rising

▪ increased

▪ reduced

▪ declining

▪ actual , exact , precise

Many people have died in the epidemic—the precise ~ is not known.

▪ certain

▪ indefinite , unspecified

▪ unknown

▪ approximate

▪ fixed , set

▪ final , overall , total

▪ expected

▪ real , true

▪ poll ( AmE )

VERB + NUMBER

▪ grow in , increase in

Factories had increased in ~ between the wars.

▪ decrease in , reduce in

▪ increase

The Pentagon increased the ~ of troops in Iraq to about 145 000.

▪ double

▪ cut , decrease , reduce

▪ control , limit , restrict

▪ calculate , count , determine , estimate , measure , record

Anna counted the ~ of men standing around outside.

NUMBER + VERB

▪ go up , grow , increase , jump , rise

▪ double

▪ decline , diminish , drop , dwindle , fall , fall off

Shark ~s have dwindled as a result of hunting.

Customer ~s have fallen off in the last year.

▪ vary

PREPOSITION

▪ in ~

The paintings, twelve in ~, are over 200 years old.

▪ ~ of

the ~ of children who wear glasses

PHRASES

▪ a decline in ~s , a drop in ~s

The decline in ~s of young people means that fewer teachers will be needed.

▪ a growth in ~s , an increase in ~s

▪ few in ~ , limited in ~ , small in ~

Wild dogs are now few in ~.

▪ put the ~ (of sth) at sth

Conference organizers put the ~ of attendees at around 500.

3 for identifying sb/sth

ADJECTIVE

▪ model , serial

▪ account , credit-card , membership , passport , PIN , reservation , social-security

▪ ID , identification , identity

▪ license ( AmE ), license plate ( AmE ), registration ( BrE ) (= of a car)

▪ flight

▪ page

▪ apartment ( esp. AmE ), flat ( BrE ), house , room

VERB + NUMBER

▪ assign sth , give sth

PREPOSITION

▪ at ~

We live at ~ 21.

4 telephone, etc.

ADJECTIVE

▪ fax , phone , telephone

▪ home , office , work

▪ wrong

I keep getting the wrong ~.

▪ Freephone ( BrE ), toll-free ( AmE )

▪ daytime , evening

▪ emergency

▪ contact

VERB + NUMBER

▪ call , dial , phone ( esp. BrE ), ring ( BrE )

▪ get

▪ give sb

NUMBER + VERB

▪ be busy ( AmE ), be engaged ( BrE )

▪ be unobtainable ( BrE )

PHRASES

▪ exchange ~s

They exchanged ~s and agreed to go out for a drink one evening.

▪ sb's name and ~

II.

verb

ADVERB

▪ clearly

▪ consecutively , sequentially

▪ individually

PREPOSITION

▪ according to , by

Each key is clearly ~ed by room.

▪ from , to

Number the car's features from 1 to 10 according to importance.

Number is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ workforce

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .